Help and Preparation

Today was Brandon's day off from work. Our girls should be coming home soon so we took advantage of the fact that we can leave them with the nurses. We spent a lot of the day running errands. Tonight we went out to eat at Burger King. We've both been craving fries. We weren't disappointed.

Here I am with Charlotte. She might be released from the hospital as early as tomorrow, but it might not happen until Wednesday.

And here is Lydia. You can see that she doesn't have her NG tube on her face any more. Last night I "forgot" to wrap her hands up in her blankets. Instead I left them out. She is taking all her feedings by mouth now so I knew that if she pulled her tube out the nurse wouldn't put it back. Sure enough when I checked on her an hour later she had pulled her tube for the 6th and last time. Good girl!
Here is our little family. I'm so glad the girls are in the same room now. We spent about an hour with them tonight. It was nice to just hold them. I'm looking forward to chilling out with our girls at home while watching a movie.
Those are the only pictures we have today. So those of you who just like the pics can move on. Those of you who read this blog can stay. :)

Today's post is about the things that have helped me make it through this stay in the hospital. To me the past two weeks have been a crazy-fun adventure. Something that will be a cool story to tell later. However, this adventure could easily have been a nightmare if I didn't have help and preparation.

A great deal of help came from my Heavenly Father. I rarely get all mushy about faith and religion in this blog, but I'm making an exception today. I'd like to share a scripture that Brandon and I read last week in the Book of Mormon. It is Mosiah 24:14-15:

"And I will also ease the burdens which are put upon your shoulders, that even you cannot feel them upon your backs, even while you are in bondage; and this will I do that you may stand as witnesses for me hereafter, and that ye may know of a surety that I, the Lord God, to visit my people in their afflictions.

And now it came to pass that the burdens which were laid upon Alma and his brethren were made light; yea, the Lord did strengthen them that they could bear up their burdens with ease, and they did submit cheerfully and with patience to all the will of the Lord."

When I read this scripture last week I thought back over all the things that had happened to us since the babies were born. There were some pretty scary things - Charlotte's collapsed lung, the possibility of Charlotte going to another hospital, the fact the babies were going to be in the hospital for so long, etc. But I didn't worry too much about these things at the time they happened. I just had a sense that everything would work out. And everything did work out. Looking back I could see that Brandon and I had been strengthened by the Lord to bear our burdens with ease. In fact we couldn't even tell they were burdens.

The other thing that helped me with this hospital stay was the preparation I received for it. There were many people in my life who shared things from their lives that prepared me for what was about to happen. Here is a list. I've tried to acknowledge as many people as possible, but this list is by no means comprehensive. So don't feel bad if you are left off.

The first person is my friend Lina. Lina blogged about the three weeks her newborn daughter spent at the hospital learning how to take all her feedings through her mouth. At the time Lina wrote her blog I wasn't even pregnant yet, but I followed her story closely. It was the first time I found out that premature newborns have to stay in the hospital if they have difficulty eating. Later when my own girls were born early I was prepared for what to expect in regard to feeding them. I even re-read Lina's blog with my mom so we could get an idea of what feelings to expect.

The next person is my friend Melissa. Melissa's daughter spent about a week in the NICU. The ultrasound that revealed I was still pregnant with twins also showed that Baby B (Lydia) was very small. I figured that she would most likely end up in the NICU for some amount of time even if she was born full term. I asked Melissa what to expect. Melissa had a very positive attitude about the whole thing. She told me about the fact that there would be IV's and tubes and wires, but she didn't make them sound scary. Now I ask her for advise about what to do when I bring my babies home.

My aunt Cheryl is another person that prepared me. She had a calm attitude about her three C-sections. (She has a calm attitude about everything.) I knew that with twins there was a high chance of having a C-section. I'd mostly heard horror stories about emergency C-sections and so I was a little scared of the prospect. After talking to Cheryl about her experiences with her C-sections I felt very comfortable with the idea. My own C-section went very well, and I have no regrets. (except that I drank orange juice a few hours earlier)

My sisters Lindsey and Emily set great examples for me. Both of them had baby boys while they were in college. Lindsey graduated in April and Emily will graduate this coming April. I have no idea how they juggled everything. I often thing about them when I contemplate how busy my life will be with twins. I tell myself I should be grateful that I have already graduated.

My friend Lindsay influenced me in a tragic way. Her son died of SIDS recently. I've been following her blog and she has reminded me to enjoy every second I can with my little girls.

My mother-in-law, Jacque, had twins of her own. So of course she is a gold mine of information. I often ask her logistical questions like, did you have one crib or two? Answer: one crib for the first six months.

My Mom set an example by breastfeeding all five of her children. Since I'm the oldest I remember her nursing my younger brother and sisters. I've known all along that I want to breastfeed my girls. So far it is working out.

My Dad helped prepare me for something that could have been very scary to see. My Dad has a C-Pap machine that helps him breath at night. I've become adjusted to seeing his machine and the mask that goes with it. The very first time I saw Lydia she was wearing a C-Pap mask. Because of my Dad I knew a C-Pap wasn't as scary as it looked. I was able to ignore the mask and look at my little girl.

And finally I have to mention my greatest example and helper, Brandon. He has been in the hospital several times in his life starting with when he had a stroke when he was seven. (Odd, I know) He was also in the hospital twice as a teenager for surgery to remove a nasal tumor. (Yeah, also odd) Because of these hospital stays he had endless empathy for me. He also told me what to expect as far as IV's, catheters, blood clot preventer thingies, and hospital socks went. I'm so glad he was with me.

All this shows that you never know when you might influence somebody. Thanks for helping and preparing me. I hate to imagine what the past two weeks would have been like if I'd had to go through them alone and unprepared.